Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Olympic bid logo: Istanbul 2020

While most Olympic bid logos have been revealed with highly publicised ceremonies, it seems the Istanbul bid logo has somehow managed to slip under the radar. I've held on to the logo above for weeks, not being entirely sure whether it was an official bid logo or not. Bid logos are typically revealed before or directly after the deadline for handing in applications to the IOC, which was February 15. And the logo above could be seen on the covers of all publications related to the Turkish bid, as well as on its website. It sure seems like this one is intended to be the official bid logo.

Disclaimers aside, as a bid logo, this is somewhat unconventional. Bid logos are typically a symbol that fits in a square, stacked on top of a wordmark. This one consists of a modern wordmark and a banner with a traditional Islamic pattern. The banner and wordmark can be used in the horizontal lock-up seen above, but they are also often used separately.